Balanced Budget Amendment Falls In Congress

Frustrating news from Washington yet again as the U.S. House failed to pass a Balanced Budget Amendment last week. The amendment garnered 261 votes, 23 short of the 284 required for 2/3 passage.

With America now fully $15 trillion in debt, our leaders in Congress still won’t acknowledge that they have a society-destroying spending problem and that something binding needs to be done about it.

Although the vote has been largely overlooked because it took place during the pending failure of the Supercommittee, the rejected BBA is the latest glaring example of just how perilously broken Washington really is.

Congress currently has an approval rating of 12 percent, I can only guess they are trying to reach zero percent.

Here are the details of the vote:

236 Republicans voted YES.

161 Democrats voted NO.

25 Democrats voted YES.

4 Republicans voted NO.

2 Republicans didn’t vote

6 Democrats didn’t vote.

The BBA needed robust bipartisan support to pass the House. In 1995, 72 Democrats voted for the BBA when it passed; this time only 25 Dems voted in favor of the measure and it failed.

If you’re looking for someone to blame for torpedoing the BBA, these 17 House Democrats is a good place to start.

Shelley Berkley (NV-1)


Tim Bishop (NY-1)

John Yarmuth (KY-3)